Early Mornings
by RoseStone27140
Summary: An early-morning conversation leads to an early-morning gift.


Author's Note: To the followers of "A New Normal," I am sorry it has been so long since I have updated! I have been hit with a case of writer's block. Hopefully, a new chapter will be posted soon. In the meantime, here's a one-shot (maybe two-shot if I get the motivation?) featuring my two favorite Marauders. Thanks for reading! Enjoy!

I own nothing.

* * *

James Potter had always been a morning person. It didn't matter how late he stayed up at night, he always bounded out of bed in the morning, bright and chipper. He just had too much energy to stay in bed all morning.

Sirius and Peter, on the other hand, were definitely not morning people. They would sleep until after noon everyday if they could. If Sirius was forced to wake up, he was extremely grumpy. And at times, violent. Peter slept like a rock. Remus had been forced to spray the smallest Marauder with water multiple times.

Remus was a morning person, depending on the cycle of the moon. At new moon, he barely got four hours of sleep and still was energetic. But during the days surrounding the full moon, he slept substantially longer.

As James got out of bed, he heard the turning of a page from Remus' bed. He smiled slightly as he got dressed in some sweats and a sweatshirt and slipped on some trainers. He opened the curtains around Remus' bed and sat down.

"Morning, Moons. You want to go for a jog with me?" James asked. To expend some of his extra energy, and to make sure that he kept physically fit for Quidditch, he went for a jog every morning. Most of the time, he invited Remus, who was the only other one awake. He usually agreed, unless he was getting ready for or recovering from a full moon. Since full moon wasn't for another two weeks, James figured that Remus would agree.

This morning, however, Remus just raised an eyebrow. "Have you looked out the window this morning, Prongs?"

James shrugged and got up to look out the window. "Oh," he said as he saw the pouring rain that the wind was driving into the window. "Guess not then."

Remus smirked as James sat down on his bed again, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he just took up his Charms book and continued to study.

James looked around the room, trying to decide what to do now. He could follow Remus' example, but he wasn't one to study. Since becoming Head Boy, James had matured a lot, but some things, like his study habits, would never change. He and Sirius just absorbed information. They were natural talents at magic, and they didn't really care about succeeding academically. Remus was a natural too, although not quite as much as the other two. It took more effort for him to get good marks, but James had always thought that the werewolf went overboard with the studying.

Which gave James an idea. "Hey, Moony, want to head to the kitchens with me?"

"Really, Prongs? You can't wait an hour for these two lazy gits to get up so we can go to breakfast?"

"Please." James snorted. "It's Saturday. And Sirius was up late snogging Heather Cane so I doubt he'll wake up until at least eleven. And I'm hungry now."

"Heather? I thought Sirius and Marlene made up."

"I did too. Obviously we were wrong."

James and Remus shared a smile. Sirius and Marlene had the iconic on-again-off-again relationship. They could tell that Sirius genuinely cared for her, but the two butted heads so often that their relationship was very unstable.

"Anyway… kitchens?" James asked, standing up.

Remus rolled his eyes. "I need to study."

"You also need to eat, Moony. Come on! You've been studying for a week straight. Take a break. NEWTs aren't for two months. You've got time."

Remus hesitated for a minute before finally sighing and closing his book. "Fine. I am hungry, and with the way Peter's snoring, I doubt he'll wake up before Sirius." He slipped off his bed and put on his shoes, having already been dressed.

The two made their way down the stairs and out of the Common Room. James was quiet, but that wasn't so strange when he was around just Remus. His friend had a calming presence, and James didn't feel the need to fill every silence with chatter. When he did talk, his conversations tended to be more serious than his conversations with the other two Marauders.

"Can I ask you something, Moony?" James asked as they walked.

Remus looked at him in consternation. The last time James had asked him that, he had followed it with a question about the internal organs of werewolves. James smiled, trying to reassure his friend that what he asked was not going to be a strange werewolf question. Finally, Remus nodded.

"Why are you so worried about NEWTs?" James asked. "You're brilliant; you'll be fine. You worry way too much."

Remus stared at him for a second. "You wouldn't understand."

"Oh really? Try me." In all honesty, James was worried about Remus. It seemed as though all he did recently was study, and if he wasn't studying, he was worrying about studying. James could see him becoming more and more stressed each day.

Remus sighed. "Your dream job is being an Auror, right?" After James nodded, he continued. "Well, you're going to have no problem getting that job. You're extremely talented, and Merlin knows how you manage it, but you get good marks. Plus, your dad was an Auror for a long time. You're not going to have any problems getting into the Auror training program. It's all so easy for you. But for me… well, I have no hopes of getting my dream job."

James was surprised. They had talked about careers back in fifth year, but Remus had never seemed bitter about it before. Sure, he hadn't been enthusiastic, but he had never sounded like this. It was almost like Remus was jealous of James. And that was unlike him. Peter had sometimes expressed jealousy towards the more popular Marauders, but never Remus.

James hesitated for a minute. "What would your dream job be, Moony?"

"Does it matter, Prongs? There's no chance of it happening, so let's just forget it." Remus groaned and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Sorry, I don't mean to sound bitter. I'm just trying to focus on studying, doing as well on my NEWTs as possible so I can have as many options as I can."

James shook his head. "Well, that makes sense, but I'm not just going to forget it. What would your dream job be?"

Remus didn't answer immediately, but when he did, he wouldn't meet James' gaze. "I'd teach."

This didn't surprise James at all. Ever since they had started Hogwarts, Remus had been tutoring other students. First, it had been Peter. Then, as they got older, he had helped out the younger students. Remus was the most patient person that James knew.

"That's great! You would make an excellent professor. Why wouldn't it work?"

"No one would hire someone… like me to teach, James," Remus said quietly. The use of his friend's nickname showed James how hurt Remus was by the thought.

"You wouldn't have to tell them!"

Remus raised his eyebrow.

"Oh, come on. Don't give me that look! You've managed to get through Hogwarts without anyone finding out." As soon as James said it, he realized how stupid he sounded. "I mean, apart from us."

Remus chuckled dryly. "Dumbledore knew. And McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. And it's because of them that I was able to make it seven years. Did you know that Dumbledore didn't tell the Board of Governors about me? That's because if he had told them, I never would have been allowed to come."

"Moony, anybody would be lucky to have you-"

"I doubt that. Nobody would hire someone like me, and even if they did, I wouldn't stay in the position because as soon as they figured out what I am, they would kick me out."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

"How?"

James was concerned by how guilty Remus looked.

"Because last summer I had a job. It lasted until the full moon, and when my boss saw me with all the scratches, he fired me."

The hurt in Remus' eyes told James that there was a bit more to the story than that, and it stopped James in his tracks.

"I'm sorry."

Remus shrugged. "Whether I like it or not, this is going to be my life. I'd better get used to it."

The two walked in silence for several minutes. James racked his brain for a solution. There had to be something that could be done. It wasn't fair that he could pursue his dreams but Remus couldn't. There had to be a solution.

"What about teaching in a Muggle school?" James asked as they neared the kitchens.

Remus shook his head. "Wouldn't work. You need qualifications that I don't have. And my mum might be a Muggle, but I don't know enough about how Muggle schools work."

"Private tutor then?"

"I'd have to find a family that didn't mind what I am."

James sighed. It seemed impossible. For the first time, he recognized Remus' despair about the situation.

"What about-"

"Prongs?" Remus interrupted as they stopped in front of the portrait guarding the kitchens' entrance. "Just let it go."

"But-"

"Don't. It's fine. I'll figure something else out."

But James wasn't ready to give up just yet.

* * *

The first thing Remus thought when he woke up was that he had to get up and study. The second thought was that he didn't need to study. Because he was officially done with his NEWTs.

It was their graduation day.

A smile crept across Remus' face as he lay in bed. If someone had told him ten years ago that he would not only be attending Hogwarts but also graduating Hogwarts at the top of his class, he wouldn't have believed it. Attending school had seemed an impossible dream for so long that he had eventually stopped thinking about it.

But it had happened. And even if this were the only dream of his that would ever be fulfilled, he would be happy.

"Moony? You awake?" Remus chuckled as he heard James' voice outside of his bed curtains.

"Yeah. I am," Remus said and James flung open the curtains and hopped onto his bed. Remus raised his eyebrow speculatively at the package in James' hand but decided to ignore it for the moment. "You're up early.

James shrugged. "Yeah, well, wouldn't want to break tradition." He smirked and shoved the package into Remus' hands. "Here. I got you something."

"Prongs-"

"Just open it, prat."

Remus sighed and unwrapped the present. It was quite immaculately wrapped, and he knew that James had used a charm to help him. James was master of a lot of things, but that did not include wrapping gifts. When he wrapped things by hand, they usually looked like Padfoot had gotten ahold of them.

Remus' hands froze as the wrapping paper fell away from the gift. "What…?"

James cleared his throat. "I've been thinking about our conversation. You know, about our dream jobs? And I know you think that you'll never teach, but I disagree. You'd be perfect at it. It might take a while to find a school that recognizes how amazing you are, but I firmly believe that you, Remus John Lupin, will one day be a professor and help sorry students like me and Padfoot. And when that day comes, I will gladly say, 'I told you so.'"

Remus stared at the gift. It was a briefcase, brand new. It was black and shiny and the nicest thing he had ever owned. But the words on the side were what made it truly special. Because on the side of the briefcase in gold were the words _Professor R. J. Lupin_. Remus felt emotions bubbling up inside of him.

"Prongs… This is… I mean," Remus stuttered.

James smiled brightly. "I think what you're trying to say is 'Thank you.' To which I say, 'You're welcome.'" James clapped him on the shoulder and climbed back off Remus' bed. "Going to take my morning jog now. Last one at Hogwarts. Want to come?"

Remus really just wanted to sit there, staring at the briefcase, but he figured that might be kind of strange. "Sure," he said and climbed out of bed. He opened his trunk and reverently set the briefcase inside before getting changed. He wasn't sure if he would ever use it, but knowing that James believed in him enough to get him the gift warmed his heart.


End file.
